


love is a losing game

by iridescentwinters



Category: SKAM (Spain)
Genre: Alternate Universe (kinda), F/M, Skam España Season 3, cliché as fuck LMFAOOO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-01-31 17:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18595873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridescentwinters/pseuds/iridescentwinters
Summary: "one i wished, i never played... oh, what a mess we made. and now the final frame, love is a losing game..."





	1. endgame?

**Author's Note:**

> i couldn't think of a better summary other than the lyrics to amy winehouse's song so ya lol just read it JKNWJDNSWJKFN
> 
> WARNING: lowkey cliché

as much as she really wanted to, nora couldn’t keep her gaze away from the couple standing just a couple of metres away from her and her locker. usually, she minded her own business, but with alejandro and inés, she somehow couldn’t stop sticking her nose into their business. 

her heart felt as though it’d been dropped on a row of cacti, as she watched alejandro pull inés closer by the waist and buried his head into her neck, evidently murmuring sweet nothings into her ear, judging from the girl’s giggles. she looked  _ happy _ .

nora wished she could say the same for herself.

she hated herself for being envious of inés. she was one to always be supportive of other women. she put on this nonchalant facade, always brushing the topic off whenever viri or the other girls brought it up. she even made jokes about it, but deep down inside the thought of alejandro being with someone else constantly bothered her every other free moment she had to herself in her mind.

_ he is a playboy, after all, _ her subconscious mocked her.  _ you knew that. yet, you let yourself get played... _

she finally turned around to face her locker. she really felt like boo boo the fool now. she constantly belittled alejandro especially in front of viri to get him out of her system. and though it worked successfully, she now had him in  _ her _ system.  _ great _ , nora heaved a sigh.  _ what was i thinking? he never cared about me. he only cared about getting into my bed. and now that he’s bored of me, i have to face the consequences. _

“noraaaa?”

a voice dragging out her name suddenly pushed her back to reality. she looked to her right, and found hugo standing there. he had a slight look of concern on his face. “you okay there?”

nora blinked, before nodding vigorously. “yeah! yeah, i’m alright. sorry, i’m prone to zoning out.” she explained sheepishly. “need something?” she then asked, a little confused as to why hugo approached her. they were friends, sure, but only at parties. at least, that’s what she thought.

hugo looked down at the stack of books he had in his arms. “oh right, one second.” he said, fumbling around the stack. “eh…. i have it right here, somewhere… could you hold this?” he held out three thick textbooks. nora couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape her lips. “sure.” she obliged, taking them. she then laughed again while watching hugo struggle hard with his books. “i had it right here! i swear to God, i told lucas to put it right on top of it all, but nooo the loser needs everything to be in the right order...like who even puts anything in order especially i’m gonna be chucking them all in my- here we go!” he pulled out nora’s tiny but shiny silver notebook. “here! you left it in class.” he explained while handing it over.

“oh! no wonder i couldn’t find it. thank you!” nora exclaimed. hugo smiled brightly. “no problem. i’m known to be pretty darn helpful.” he proudly bragged, crossing his arms. the duo stood there in silence for a few seconds, before nora broke it. “do you, uh, want this back or?” she asked, gesturing towards the textbooks in her hands. hugo immediately stood up straight and frantically took them back. “oh god, i’m so sorry.” he apologised bashfully. nora couldn’t help but smile at his awkwardness. it was what made him so likeable.

_speaking of likeable…_ nora’s head turned back to her side, and caught sight of alejandro’s piercing gaze. he’d been watching her and hugo from the minute he approached her. when nora looked back at him, his grip around inés’ waist tightened, but she took no notice of the small act especially because she was chatting away, gossiping about people he possibly couldn’t give a single damn about. especially since all his attention was on nora with another boy.

the words fell out of nora’s mouth before she could’ve stopped them. “hey, we should hang out more often.”  _ oh my fucking GOD, what are you doing?  _ her mind screamed.  _ using someone should definitely not be the way to see if alejandro cares! _

hugo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “w-we should?” he asked. “i mean yeah, of course we should! like, chill as friends and stuff. yeah, like how cris and i were friends. i mean, we still are, minus the making out part.” he rambled nervously. “wait! what am i saying?” he then stopped short to groan. “i’m sorry, i’m so lame.” he muttered.

nora was still having her mini staring contest with alejandro while she responded. “don’t be.” she then forced herself to look back at hugo. “how about we go watch the new avengers movie? endgame? friday night?” she suggested. her heart picked up a few paces, as alejandro and inés walked towards her direction. but she kept her gaze forward, on hugo.

“absolutely! i mean, the guys wanted to watch it together, but i’m sure they wouldn’t mind if i bailed. i mean, jorge always did when he was with eva, so, yeah! sounds good.” hugo grinned adorably. “i’ll order the tickets tonight, since they’re selling out pretty quick.”

nora placed her hand on his shoulder when the couple walked past them, alejandro’s arm gently brushed up against hers. “sounds amazing! thank you so much. i can’t wait!” nora channeled all her white-girlness in that one sentence. the bell rang, and she started taking steps forward. “see you friday, then. text me the details!”

“will do!” hugo confirmed. “see you!”


	2. conversations and coincidences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "one i wished, i never played... oh, what a mess we made. and now the final frame, love is a losing game..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too lazy to think of a chap summary jsknsjnsk sorry

nora tugged at the bottom of her yellow summer dress, trying to straighten out the tiny wrinkles on it. though she and hugo never put a label on their outing, it wouldn't be no harm to dress up for it, right?

she twirled around once she was done applying her matte red lipstick, facing her bed, where cris was lazing on. the blonde had her head propped against her intertwined fingers. "well? how do i look?" nora asked. cris nodded her head approvingly. "like a snack." she replied honestly, before swiftly springing upright. "i would've never expected you to be going on a date with hugo."

the brunette's face fell. "is it awkward? considering how you-"

"girl! how many times are you gonna be asking for my blessing?" cris intervened before she could get another word out. "i told you; hugo and i are cool. and i don't swing his way anymore." she winked, making nora laugh in relief. that was partly the reason why nora invited cris over to 'help' her get ready. despite cris being with joanna, she just wanted to check that if it was alright with her.

cris tapped her fingers against her cheek in thought, before slowly speaking up again. "hugo is the sweetest guy i know." she carefully started, making nora drop her hand from her hair abruptly. "once he cares for someone, he cares. a lot. he'd never admit it, but i know it hurt him when i told him i didn't like him like that, and it took him some time to get over the fact that there really was no chance for us."

nora didn't reply, only stared at the girl with a crestfallen look taking over her face. cris took that as a sign to keep talking. "trust me, it's gonna suck  _ so _ hard afterwards to use someone. not for him, but for yourself. you're not gonna feel any better." cris shuddered visibly, clearly trying to get a bad memory out of her head.

“cris…”

“whatever you do, don’t force yourself into something you don’t want, nora. and don’t string him along.” cris paused for a moment, before continuing. “i’m not a moron. i’ve noticed you and alejandro. it’s hard not to. i’ve never seen him look at someone the way he looks at you. and i’ve known him for a long time.”

“i didn’t mean to catch feelings.” nora was surprised as to how easily she got herself to admit that. not only to cris, but to herself and outloud. cris smiled. “that’s what feelings do. they sneak up on you before you even realise them yourself.” she grabbed ahold of nora’s wrists. “and that’s okay. you’re not iron woman. it’s okay that you’re mad at him for being with her.”

“but it doesn’t make sense.” nora mumbled, averting her gaze away from cris. “i shouldn’t be mad at him. it’s alejandro. and i’m not. i’m mad at myself.”

“he’s not a bad person.” the blonde argued. “it’s been rough for him. yeah, it doesn’t justify his dumbness, but he’s not evil. plus, he’s a teenage white boy. can you really expect much from them?” she added jokingly, making nora force a chuckle. the girls settled into a brief moment of silence, before cris piped up with a question. “so?”

nora didn’t respond immediately, letting her train of thought taking over her.  _ no games,  _ she firmly stated to herself.  _ no stringing along. and no more alejandro.  _ taking a deep breath, she finally replied, “i like hugo. i’d like to see where this could go. with no other factors but us.”

cris couldn’t help but frown a little in doubt.  _ was she trying to convince me or herself?  _ however, she decided to not press the matter any further. unlike her, nora was a lot smarter. she’d probably make better decisions than her. or at least, she could hope. “alright. sounds good.” her phone chimed, and she looked down on it. a shy grin took over her face. nora instantly knew that it was her girlfriend. “it’s joana. i gotta go.”

nora looked at the clock on her wall. it was currently 4:45PM, and the movie was at 5:30PM, but they decided to meet at 5. “i should go too.” she then hugged the taller girl. “thanks for coming over. really. i… i needed that talk.”

cris flicked against the other girl’s cheek. “i’m always here if you need me. any time of the day.” she assured honestly. “no judgement at all.” nora smiled gratefully. it’s not that she thought she couldn’t confide in eva. she just… wouldn’t understand. cris somehow did perfectly.

the girls parted at nora’s bus stop; cris took one that was going in the opposite direction of the theatre hall. “text me about it later!” cris yelled out, while nora was getting on the bus. “will do! have fun with jo!” nora yelled back, and cris responded back with a thumbs up.

nora found hugo leaning against a pillar in front of the theatre hall. however, he straightened his posture in a flash once he caught sight of nora approaching him. “h-hi.” he shyly greeted the girl with a hug. “you look pretty. not that you don’t always look pretty. i mean-”

“thank you.” nora cut in with an impish grin, saving him from further embarrassment. “do you have the tickets?” hugo nodded, and held up two pieces of paper. “G6 and 7. it was a little hard finding good seats, but they aren’t bad seats! it’s a few rows back and in the middle.”

before nora could respond, another voice cut in. “and what do we have here?” a loud and rough voice rang out mockingly in a singsong tone, making nora’s heart drop as fast as her face did.  _ no… you have GOT to be kidding me. _

she screwed her eyes shut tightly, before turning around painfully slow, to meet alejandro’s smoldering dark brown eyes. her gaze slowly travelled over where his arm was resting, which was over inés’ shoulders. she had an innocent-looking smirk on her face.

 

“what a coincidence!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “guess we’re all in the same row, watching the same movie!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly this part was unexpected... i started writing the cris and nora bit thinking it was only gonna last a few lines but it ended up being the bulk of this chapter ksksk
> 
> next chapter should be up in a few hours!


	3. you know i'm no good!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "one i wished, i never played... oh, what a mess we made. and now the final frame, love is a losing game..."
> 
> in which nora is confronted by the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: angst????

sitting next to alejandro in a 3 hour long movie was like sitting through a Twilight marathon; the underlying sense of self-loathing was manifesting rapidly within nora’s chest. all that confidence she mustered up before the date even began was slowly starting to reveal itself to be just a facade. 

she wasn’t any good at hiding it either. as soon as alejandro leaned in a little closer to her casually, she shifted her entire body to her left, where hugo was sitting, but had her gaze steadily locked on the screen in front of her. hugo also took that as a sign to rest his arm on the top of her seat.

_ great, _ her subconscious groaned.  _ could this get any worse? _

it did.

“you do know who dies in the end, right?” alejandro whispered mischievously, and nora knew his tone was in-par with his elfish grin. he knew that he’d get a reaction out of her like that. and he wanted one  _ so _ bad. as selfish it sounded, he couldn’t stand her ignoring him constantly. and like a cherry to top it all off, her dressing up like a fucking doll for a date with another guy. to surmise, alejandro had really hit rock bottom.

“i will kick you in the balls if you don’t shut up.”

alejandro bit down on his lower lip, to hold back a chuckle. however, nora wasn’t sharing the same sense of ecstasy he was feeling. she felt as though she couldn’t  _ breathe. _ with hugo moving in closer and closer, alejandro’s unwavering attention on her, and inés… just being there, somehow being completely clueless to everything.

oh, and endgame. that definitely topped it all of nicely.

turning to her left, nora whispered to hugo, “i need to use the bathroom. want anything from the food stalls?”

hugo hummed in thought, before answering. “popcorn.” he sheepishly held up the empty popcorn holder. “we’ve run out.”

“and i wonder whose fault is that.” nora whispered teasingly, before nodding. “i’ll buy some.”

hugo slipped out his wallet in a frenzy.  “wait! let me give you money-”

“no!” nora whispered sharply. “you’ve already bought everything. i’ll get this one.”

“but-”

“n-”

“ _ shh. _ ” alejandro intervened with a harsh whisper. his playful look had melted into a cold gaze, his eyes narrowed into slits. nora scowled at him, before returning her gaze on hugo. “i’ll get it.” she confirmed, and the boy nodded in defeat. after getting her bag, she hunched down a little so that she wouldn’t be in anyone’s line of visibility and awkwardly waddled over alejandro, inés and a couple of other people to get to the aisle.

_ a few minutes of air, _ nora thought as she heaved a sigh whilst walking to the bathroom. thankfully, it was fully vacant.

nora placed her bag on the counter, and took a long hard look at her reflection. “you,” she started whispering to herself, “don’t like him. you don’t care for him. you are here with hugo, whose is hundred times better than  _ him. _ ”

_t_ _hen_ _why is it that you can’t stop making everything about him?_ her subconscious whispered the question.

nora let out a frustrated groan, almost close to pulling her hair, but she managed to regain some of her cool composure. inhaling and exhaling deeply, she fixed her hair once more, before stepping back outside. 

 

where alejandro was waiting for her.

nora stopped in her tracks and blinked in confusion. what the hell was he doing out?

alejandro innocently smiled, though the girl was convinced it was a jubilant smirk. “hola.” he greeted her, kicking himself off the wall he was leaning against. his smirk only grew bigger as nora ignored him, and made her way to the food stall.

standing in line behind her, he leaned in. “you look beautiful, by the way.” he whispered over her shoulder. nora felt her body unavoidably tingle with excitement. however, she still kept her gaze forward.  _ just ignore it, just ignore it… _ she chanted in her mind.

it was finally her turn to order. but just before she could take out her money, alejandro placed a 10€ bill on the counter. nora glared at him whilst he asked for a water bottle, adding onto her order.

she left in a heated frenzy, not even thanking the person behind the counter. though she was speed-walking, alejandro easily caught up with her. stupid short legs.

“fucking hell, nora.” alejandro let out a frustrated groan. “aren’t you tired of playing this game?”

nora whipped her head around so fast that she almost could’ve gotten a whiplash. “ _ i’m  _ playing games?” she reiterated in disbelief. “you’re fucking delusional.”

alejandro took a step forward, and she took one step back instinctively. “am i?” he asked. “so you’re just going to deny everything, huh?” he chuckled humorlessly. “i’m not an idiot, nora. you’re not great with hiding. suddenly ignoring my texts, always avoiding me everywhere…” he paused, before finally ending with, “looking at me when you think i’m not aware.”

nora didn’t know if she was more angry or humiliated. maybe it was a little bit of both. “what do you _want_ from me, alejandro?” she asked, on the brink of tears.

taking another step closer to leave little to no space between them, alejandro responded in a serious tone; “i want you to look me in the eye and tell me you like me.” his eyes were locked on her face, desperate for an answer.

nora refused to do so, and kept her gaze steady on the floor.  _ don’t give in, don’t give in... _

_ “nora.” _

_ fuck it.  _

nora’s head snapped upwards, her angry eyes locked on his. “fine! i like you. i like you a lot.” before the boy could respond, she kept talking. “and it was the dumbest thing i’ve ever done. because you clearly only saw me as a challenge and got real bored of it in the end when i kept refusing you. even though you told me you’d wait.” she didn’t bother hiding the tears streaming down her face. “but it’s not your fault. you’re not mine. who am i to stop you from being with other people?”

putting her free hand on his shoulders, she pushed him away. “there. here’s the truth you wanted. now leave me alone, because you’re right. i  _ am _ tired of playing this game.” thrusting the popcorn holder in his hands, she muttered, “give this to hugo and tell him i’m sorry.”

picking up her bag, she brushed past alejandro and left him in the middle of the main hall, with a crestfallen look on his face.

 

first step of getting over someone was acceptance, right?

nora wiped away her tears as she pressed on cris’ number, phoning her.

 

this was gonna be harder than she expected. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i first started this fic i thought i'd just end it off with a cliffhanger but i know yall would murder my ass LMAOO so next update is most likely next week! :)
> 
> in other news,,, watched endgame and i can't stop thinking about it....


	4. 2AM talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "one i wished, i never played... oh, what a mess we made. and now the final frame, love is a losing game..."
> 
> in which he speaks out his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise! think most of you know by now,,, but i been goin thru it sigh. but had a rush of inspiration while studying, so here you go! enjoy, and let me know what you think of this chapter!

it was a little over 2AM on a sunday. alejandro laid on his bed, eyes wide awake, watching the ceiling fan blades rotate at its normal pace. his mind was trapped in a kaleidoscope of emotions; mainly shock, confusion, frustration, and a little bit of joy.

he knew nora felt the same way for him. but when she said it out loud…

he swallowed harshly, remembering her words from friday night:  _ i like you a lot. and it was the dumbest thing i’ve ever done. _ she went on about how he only saw her as a ‘challenge’, but it wasn’t true. well, maybe in the beginning it was because the thrill of chasing a girl reignited in him, but over the months that didn’t matter anymore, when he got to know her. his feelings never faded, but only grew stronger. it was more than just schoolboy infatuation.

_ i don’t, _ he wanted to yell back at her at that moment,  _ i don’t see you as some kind of game! _ but the words never came out. and he hated himself for that.

he shifted around his bed, settling on his right. heaving a sigh, he stared at the girl who was asleep next to him. her eyes were closed. she inhaled sharply through her nose at times.

alejandro cared for inés. he saw through everyone else’s opinions on her. she was like him in a sense; she had many layers to her and let their words define who she was on the outside. in the inside, she was just a girl who wanted to be loved. maybe that was why alejandro was so inclined to her. she felt familiar.

“what are you thinking about?”

alejandro blinked, before realising that inés was awake. “nothing.” he whispered back, his fingers brushing away the hair covering half her face. “must be a strong nothing, then.” inés replied, amused. she then turned to lay on her side, facing alejandro. “is that code for nora now, then?”

alejandro’s heart picked up a few paces at the mention of nora’s name. “i don’t know what you’re talking about.” he muttered, his eyes suddenly interested in the bedsheet.  _ she knew, _ his conscious murmured. of course she knew. inés was a lot smarter than she was credited for being.

“come on, ale.” inés dragged her words. “i know you. and it’s hard not to notice it.” alejandro’s eyes looked back at the girl. “notice what?” he questioned, and she swallowed the tiny lump in her throat. “the way you look at her.” she answered, a smile on her lips but a twinge of sadness in her words. and he noticed it.

“i’m sorry.” was his first response. “i… it just happened. i didn’t mean for it to happen.” he hesitated for a second, before adding: “harbouring feelings for her that you wanted.”

inés slipped her hands under her head. “it’s okay,” her voice barely above a whisper, “you don’t get to choose who you have feelings for. that’s what feelings do to you.” she shrugged. “they sneak up onto you.”

the two were silent for a few minutes, both deep in thought. inés then piped up again. “i just have one question.” she proceeded after alejandro nodded. “why did you decide on being with me, when you clearly liked her? why didn’t you just tell her how you felt?”

alejandro thought about it, before answering honestly. “i wanted to move on. i thought she didn’t feel the same way for me and would never, and i didn’t want to just stay pining over a girl out of my league for the rest of my life.” he chuckled bitterly. “guess that plan went down the drain, huh?” he paused, before answering her next question. “and i have told her. she just doesn’t listen.”

“has it occured to you that maybe you haven’t been as straightforward with her as you think you’ve been?” inés asked. “i mean, a few compliments here and there and fuckboyish flirting doesn’t make up for a lot, you know. and on top of that, you got with me. that doesn’t look real good.” 

alejandro processed everything inés said, before rubbing his temples. she was right. nora’s response to everything that went down between them was justifiably natural. “i’m not good with… being ‘touchy feely’.” he used air quotations. he hasn’t been very  _ in-touch  _ with his emotions since childhood.

inés propped herself up on her elbows. “you don’t have to be. all you have to do is tell her how you feel. how you really feel. don’t beat around the bush, be straightforward about it. and no more games, alejandro.”

alejandro said nothing, only stared at her for a few moments. “you deserve better, inés.” he said honestly. “better than me, better than your ex.”

inés shrugged, that same smile still on her face. “maybe i do, maybe i don’t.” she paused, before saying, “what i do know is that _ i  _ get to decide on that; who i deserve. when you start believing that you deserve nora, you’ll find things easier.”

alejandro cracked a smile. “ _ we accept the love we think we deserve? _ ” he quoted in a light-hearted manner.

inés grinned. “exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk when the next chap will be up, but i have a rough idea of what's going to happen... it's based on one of the clips from s2;)


	5. the heart wants what it wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "one i wished, i never played... oh, what a mess we made. and now the final frame, love is a losing game..."
> 
> in which she makes a decision.

it was monday, and the girls were having lunch at their usual spot in the cafeteria. though the girls were in their usual chatty mood, nora wasn’t. instead, she was playing with her pudding, deep in thought.

it didn’t take a genius to figure out where her mind was at. more specifically,  _ who _ was running through her mind. 

“noraaa?”

snapping out of her train of thought, the brunette looked at eva, who had been calling her for quite some time. “sorry, what?” 

eva frowned. “you alright?” she asked, placing her hand over her friend’s. nora smiled half-heartedly. “yeah, i’m good.” she reassured her. “did you ask me something?”

“i said jorge told me that you and hugo went out on friday.” eva repeated, with suggestive eyebrow squiggling. nora blinked, before nodding her head slowly. “yeah, we went to watch endgame.” she explained. the girls then proceeded to look at each other, before looking back at nora, their faces full of curiosity. however, nora was still confused. “what?”

amira’s eyes widened and she shrugged her shoulders in disbelief. “ _ well? _ how did it go?” she questioned.

nora looked over at cris, who had a look of sympathy on her face. “it went…” she hesitated for a second, before finishing off with, “fine.” it was less than fine, but she was too embarrassed to let the girls know what really happened. plus, they still had no idea about her and alejandro. well, whatever it was between them.

eva, amira and viri looked at one another once more in curiousity and suspicion, but they decided to let the matter go, and the girls drifted into silence for a few moments.

but it wasn’t long till that silence broke. eva’s eyes caught sight of a certain someone making their way towards them, and she coughed into her fist. “psst! girls,” she hissed, “the pomeranian is coming. i repeat, the pome is coming.”

colour drained out of nora’s face. _oh no…_

“nora.”

as if on instinct, nora squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to disappear. she was dreading to see alejandro after what went down on friday.  _ well, i was going to have to face him sooner or later. guess it’s sooner. _

she opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to the side to face alejandro. he had a sombre look on his face, quite the opposite of his usual charming smirk. “can we talk for a minute?”

nora felt viri’s gaze on her, and she hardened the look on her own face. “i’m busy right now.” she snapped. what the hell was he trying to do, and right in front of her friends? in front of  _ viri? _

that didn’t stop alejandro. “it’ll be quick.” he promised, his gaze steady on her. nora’s heart picked up a few paces. she wasn’t used to the boy being so… serious.

her eyes fluttered over to viri, who had an expression she couldn’t quite decipher. inhaling sharply, she looked back at alejandro. her heart was pounding against her chest at this point. “okay then. say what you want to say.”

alejandro blinked. he knew that nora would resist, but he wasn’t ready for her to agree to it, but right in front of her friends. he looked over at them, inquisitiveness written all over their faces. minus viri, who looked like she was dreading his next words.

no more games. if that’s what nora wanted, fine. he wasn’t going to back down now. taking a deep breath, he started. “i just wanted to tell you that…” he licked his lips, unsure of how to start his confession. he wasn’t really good with words. “i broke up with inés.”

though they did see the break-up coming at some point, the girls’ eyes bulged right out of their sockets. they weren’t expecting  _ that.  _

nora’s eyebrows furrowed.  _ they seemed pretty darn dandy on friday,  _ she thought to herself. she nodded her head slowly in response, unsure as to what she’s supposed to do with this information.

taking that as a sign to continue, alejandro said, “because…”  _ here we go. _ “because i lo-” he stopped on the L-word, knowing that it would cause some fuss later between her friends. “because i like  _ you. _ ”

cris let a small smile slip onto her face, as she looked over at nora, who had a look of surprise on her face. she didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t  _ that. _ a confession out in the open.

nora stayed silent for a few moments, unable to speak or form a sentence. she cursed herself, her heart for doing summersaults out of joy. she hated the feeling of warmth that was spreading through her chest, hearing alejandro’s words. she wanted to believe that he was merely lying, just to string her along after her own confession, but she knew him. he himself had mentioned on more than one occasion that he wasn’t someone who was good with expressing emotions. this meant a lot more than his four simple words.  _ because i like you. _

what was stopping her from being with the boy she grew to love?

nora felt viri’s eyes move away from her, and were downcast.  _ viri. _ nora felt like a fool for not realising it earlier. viri wasn’t over alejandro. she was merely pretending to be, to please her friends. 

alejandro looked into her clear green eyes, desperately looking for answers. “you won’t say anything?”

nora glanced over viri briefly, who refused to meet her gaze. she then looked at cris, who had a slight look of hope on her face. she suddenly found it difficult to swallow.  _ i can’t do this. not to viri. _

she finally looked back at alejandro. “no.” she forced the word out of her mouth. “no thank you.”

the look on cris’ face melted, as did amira’s and eva’s, who were secretly rooting for alejandro. 

speaking of the boy, he had a look of confusion on his face. “what do you mean,  _ no? _ ” he asked in a baffled tone. 

it pained nora to keep speaking. “i mean  _ no,  _ and the ‘no’ says it all.”

the perplexity on alejandro’s face was halved, part of it being replaced by vexation. “i don’t believe you.” he responded. he was more than aware of her feelings for him. she had them on full-display friday night. she was more than ready to share them with him then. why was back to her denial?

nora was shaking. she was lying to him, to her friends, viri, and most importantly, lying to herself. but she had no choice. “look alejandro,” she carefully began, trying to keep the lump out of her throat from blocking her speech, “you don’t like me. this is a  _ game _ for you. you want the only girl who’s ever told you ‘no’, to tell you ‘yes’.”  _ and you succeeded, _ she bitterly added.  _ she isn’t saying it, but she really, really wants to.  _ “and don’t use me as an excuse for the inés thing. you don’t really care about us. you only want us to show off on instagram.”  _ lies, lies, lies. _ alejandro wasn’t like that. hell, he barely used instagram. but she didn’t know what else to say. “i mean, if you’re gonna  _ lie _ , at least be discreet with it.”

by the end of her mini speech, alejandro was crestfallen. _so, this was what she really thought of me._ he started backing away slowly. “i’ve never lied to you.” were his last words, before turning around and walking away briskly. 

it was complete silence at the table for a few seconds as they all watched alejandro walk out of the cafeteria. it was broken after he left. “what the fuck?!” eva whisper-yelled. “hello?! what was that?”

as the girls minus viri engaged in a conversation about what had just happened, nora felt a wave of tears threatening to spill. standing up abruptly, she said, “i need to use the restroom.” taking her bag with her, she then added, “i’ll see you guys in class.” and before anyone could respond, she took off in the direction of the bathroom.

thank god it was empty. entering a cubicle and dropping her bag on the floor, nora leaned against the cubicle wall, tears streaming down her face. she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth, choking on a sob. she hated that she hurt alejandro, the one time he was visibly vulnerable. she hated that she loved him. she hated that viri was hurt. most importantly, she hated that she wanted nothing more than to just run back to him and take back everything she said. 

sighing, she picked her bag up, rummaging through her stuff to find her packet of tissues, but she stopped suddenly, feeling a piece of flimsy paper. taking it out, she unfolded the strip of glossy paper. 

it was pictures of nora and alejandro, taken at a photobooth nearby the venue of one of the parties they attended. the first three photos were silly poses, alejandro squishing her cheeks in one and making bunny ears behind her head in the next, but the last one… while she smiled into the camera, he looked at her in pure admiration and… _love._

folding the photostrip back up, she wiped away her tears, along with her red lipstick. she couldn’t do this anymore. he was right. she was playing a game of charades. and quite frankly, she was tired of it. 

bursting out of the bathroom stall, she ran out to the empty schoolyard.

alejandro was sitting on one of the bench tables, having a smoke. nora watched him throw the barely finished cigar on the ground, before running his hands through his jet black hair. he looked tired.

she started walking towards him. “alejandro.” she called out to him, making him look up. her eyes met his cold ones. “here to yell at me more?” he sarcastically asked. nora said nothing, only kept a steady gaze on him. “you made yourself perfectly clear that you wanted to do nothing with me. that i’m a shit person. i get it.”

“no. no you don’t.” nora retaliated. she took a few more steps forward, till there was minimum space between her and alejandro. “you don’t understand why it’s so hard for me to allow myself to like you. you’re seen as egoistic, narcissistic, manipulative. and you hurt viri.”

“wasn’t i clear before?” alejandro intervened, pain clear as daylight in his voice. “i can’t, nora. i can’t listen to this anymore.”

nora raised her palm. “i’m not done.” when the boy quietened down, she continued. “i said that’s what everyone else thinks of you. in reality, you’re nothing like that. you’ve never been like that with me.” she paused for a moment, before continuing. “you’ve never lied to me. every time i’m with you… i feel…  _ good.  _ i don’t feel the need to act around you, keep my guard up even though i probably should have. and over the course of our friendship…”

nora looked right into alejandro’s eyes. “you’re funny, clever, nice. and  _ honest _ . that’s a quality i really admire about you, because it’s something i’m not good at.”

taking one last step so that she was standing directly in front of alejandro, she placed her hands gently on his face, cupping his cheeks. “i love you, alejandro beltrán de miguel. of course i do.”

“you mean it?” alejandro whispered, his eyes fluttering from her lips to her eyes. “every word i said.” nora confirmed, before leaning forward.

at first, the kiss was small, the both of them incredibly cautious. but it grew more and more intense the moment he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer, desperate to have her closer. nora felt giddy in a good way, as his insistent mouth parted her lips, sending shivers down her spine.

once they both broke it off for air, alejandro pulled her into a tight hug. “i love you too, weirdo.” his voice was muffled against her shoulder.

nora’s cheeks hurt from her wide grin. she knew their relationship wasn’t going to be an easy one, but she knew they’d be alright, as long as they were there for each other.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this was it! the final chapter for love is a losing game!
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed it as much as i loved writing it:) and thank you for 2000 reads!! (well, more specifically 1999 but eh xD) 
> 
> i don't plan to write any alenora at the moment because i want to full focus on this winterberg a.u i'm writing (check out details on my tumblr if u're interested!) BUUUUT i recently got a request for an alejandro one with a special guest appearance by one of the other nooras;) i intend on writing it!
> 
> see yuh x


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